Local lawmen want no part of illegal immigration dispute

Friday

Jul 23, 2010 at 8:25 PM

While New Hanover commissioners passed a resolution supporting tighter immigration controls, law enforcement officials in the county say they do not want to be in the business of enforcing federal immigration law.

By Veronica GonzalezVeronica.Gonzalez@StarNewsOnline.com

When New Hanover County commissioners passed a non-binding resolution supporting Arizona's controversial new immigration law, it sent a symbolic message about the county's feelings on illegal immigration.Besides being a statement to show frustration with the federal government's lack of action on immigration reform and calling on state leaders to adopt a similar law, the resolution has little practical effect.And local law enforcement officers don't mind keeping it that way.That's because they say they don't want to be in the business of immigration enforcement.The resolution "doesn't have any effect on what we're doing and what we've been doing," said New Hanover County Sheriff Ed McMahon this week. "Nothing has changed for law enforcement in New Hanover County because of that resolution."Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous said it's not a local department's job to check a person's immigration status.That responsibility falls squarely on the federal government."That's what they've been charged to do is protect this country and its borders," he said. "The federal government needs to step up and do what it needs to do."He said North Carolina does not face the same problems as border states, and "we're not going to go around checking people's status."That doesn't mean that the county isn't doing anything to identify undocumented immigrants.The sheriff's office has a role in determining whether people are here legally if they are arrested and booked at the jail. Along with submitting fingerprints, deputies check a person's legal status in a federal database.Since 2008, all jails in North Carolina have been required to check a person's immigration status when they are booked thanks to legislation signed into law that was sponsored by state Sen. Julia Boseman, a New Hanover County Democrat."When someone is arrested and booked into jail, their status should be checked immediately," Evangelous said. As of Thursday, 39 inmates in the New Hanover Couny jail had a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold out of 48 foreign-born inmates identified in the jail. There are 533 jail inmates total, according to the sheriff's office.But McMahon, whose paternal grandfather immigrated from Ireland and whose maternal grandfather was from Norway, said his office's role in identifying illegal immigrants ends there.When McMahon took over as sheriff, he said no thanks to the 287(g) program, a partnership between local and federal authorities which gives local authorities some immigration enforcement powers.Studies have shown the program is actually a drain on local municipalities because the federal government is not funding those programs and is not providing oversight, according to the Immigration Policy Center. Eight North Carolina counties are participating in the program, but none of them are in Southeastern North Carolina, according to data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement."We need to be able to take care of our own problems," McMahon said, adding that the jail, which is near capacity, doesn't have extra room to hold illegal immigrants for a long period of time."We don't have the room, the money, the manpower," he said. "At this point, New Hanover County is just not able to participate in the program."Controlling immigrationAs local governments across the country grow tired of the federal government's inaction on immigration, they're trying to take matters into their own hands any way they can.And a large number of North Carolinians say they support the Arizona law.A John W. Pope Civitas Institute poll taken in May this year found that 48 percent of North Carolinians strongly favor the law while 17 percent said they somewhat favor it. Conversely, 8 percent somewhat opposed it while 17 percent strongly oppose the measure. The Civitas Institute is a conservative research and public policy organization.The poll also found that 58 percent thinks the Tar Heel state should enact a similar law while 32 percent say no.The Arizona law states that when a "lawful contact" is made by a law enforcement officer "where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person."That translates into officers being able to ask for a person's immigration status during a routine traffic stop – say for speeding – and it's something Evangelous said he does not support.Additionally, the law also states "a law enforcement officer, without a warrant, may arrest a person if the officer has probable cause to believe that the person has committed any public offense that makes the person removable from the United States."Opponents of the Arizona law say it can lead to racial profiling while supporters say the law is needed because the federal government isn't doing enough to control illegal immigration.It's being challenged in federal court because the Obama administration says only the federal government can enforce immigration laws, while Arizona authorities argue the state has a right to question people about their legal status in the country.Making a statementNew Hanover County isn't the only North Carolina county trying to send a message to federal and state leaders about its feelings over illegal immigration.Beaufort and Gaston counties also have passed identical resolutions within the past two months.But the resolutions passed in New Hanover and Beaufort did not have strong support and only passed by slim margins.The New Hanover resolution passed 3-2 while the Beaufort resolution passed by 4-3.New Hanover County's support came from three Republicans, while Jason Thompson was the only Republican to vote against it after he tried to propose a less controversial compromise.

Veronica Gonzalez: 343-2008On Twitter.com: @StarNewsOnline

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